A degree in physician assistant studies was named No. 1 in a list of master's degrees that would provide the best opportunities, based on salary and employment, over the next decade, according to ABC News. The report, posted yesterday, focuses on Shane Tysinger, a former high school science teacher who decided to pursue a full-time career in ...

Physician assistants are increasingly more likely to head into specialties such as surgery and emergency medicine rather than primary care, according to the News & Observer. Researchers at the Duke University PA program studied the job choices of PAs from 1997 to 2006 and found that the number of PAs going into primary care declined to 41% ...

Physician assistant students at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., received recognition in the New Haven Register this month for their volunteer work in the Dominican Republic. In January and March, the students volunteered with Health Horizons International, an organization that focuses on expanding health care access to the Puerto Plata ...

In the past week, several news stories--including blog entries and videos--have reported on an incident involving University of New Mexico physician assistant students. The students, who were performing complimentary blood sugar tests at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center on Saturday, April 24, used a device meant for single patient use only on up ...

In a letter to the editor on May 3, AAPA president Stephen Hanson responded to an opinion piece published on April 10 in The Bakersfield Californian called ''Doctor shortage is first ObamaCare issue.'' The author, Dr. Robert S. Hooker, made a strong case about the looming physician shortage, but failed to mention PAs as a critical part of the ...

Included in the health care reform bill that President Obama signed into law on March 23 is an incentive that could encourage health care professionals to practice in underserved rural areas. In Nebraska, a 2004 law mandated that participants in a program that repays the student loans of health professionals who agree to work in underserved ...

In a recent article in the Wisconsin State Journal, physician assistants are recognized as an integral part of the solution to a shortage of primary care physicians, particularly in rural areas. Michelle Reisen-Garvey, a PA at Family Health of Lafayette County in rural Wisconsin, is profiled in the article and her work as a PA is explained. ...

Recommendations from a group of health care leaders convened by the Macy Foundation suggest that new ways of organizing and expanding the roles of primary care physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants will strengthen primary care in the future, according to a recent article from HealthLeaders Media. Specifically, the panel ...

On Wednesday, AAPA president Stephen Hanson stood in the East Room of the White House just behind President Obama as he pledged to push through national health care reform, despite Republican opposition. According to a report in the Bakersfield local news, Hanson described the experience as ''amazing'' and emphasized that his presence at the ...

Physician assistants are receiving support from physicians to assume a growing role in health care across Canada, though some nurses still maintain that PAs are inadequately trained, overly expensive and unsafe for patients, according to an article in The Canadian Press. The article profiles Susi Schoeley, a 24-year-old ...